“Especially in this political climate we cannot lose that hope,” Joubert-Gaddis said.

It’s a feeling organizers want to inspire in the LGBT community in light of the election of President Donald Trump and actions taken so far by his administration, she said. National politics has captured the attention of her group and others in the community, a year after South Dakota’s own political scene was the source of much apprehension and action.

Pride in the Park is scheduled to run 12-6 p.m. Saturday at Terrace Park, 1100 West 4th Street. A pre-party kicks off 10 p.m. Friday at the ICON Lounge in downtown Sioux Falls, with the local group Sister scheduled to perform Prince songs.

Sioux Falls Pride draws as many as 8,000 people each year. Saturday’s festival includes activities for children and adults, including a Zoo Express hosted by the Great Plains Zoo, a magician, drag shows and live music.

For all the fun and games, Pride month is a national recognition of the community’s struggle for equal rights, said Nancy Rosenbrahn, who fought legal battles for the right to marry her wife before the U.S. Supreme Court finally stepped in and forced the matter.

“Pride is a reminder of how we got where we are now,” Rosenbrahn said.

Much of the LGBT community’s focus has remained firm on the national political scene, specifically on the actions of the Trump administration, Joubert-Gaddis said. Hours into the transition, the new administration deleted the LGBT resource page at whitehouse.gov. Trump has yet to acknowledge June as Pride month, breaking from an annual tradition set by President Barack Obama.

“When Trump was elected he stood up and said, ‘I love everybody and I love LGBT people,’” Joubert-Gaddis said. “Lucky for us we don’t think anything he says seriously.”